Irving Textual Analysis of The Legend Of Sllepy Hollow...

Textual Analysis of quot;The Legend of Sleepy Hollowquot; 1.) Romantic Description: a. pg. 715 - quot;there is a little valley, or rather lap of land, among high hills, which is one of the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it, with just a murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail, or tapping of a woodpecker, is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquility.quot; Irving describes nature as an untouchable force. He ignores the realism of nature and reveals only the beauty it holds. It is the stereotypical description of Mother Nature. Irving makes it sound so tranquil as if this place doesn’t exist in this world. c. pg 731 - quot;Its limbs†¦show more content†¦He was broad-shouldered and double-jointed, with short curly black hair, and a bluff, but no unpleasant countenance, having a mingled air of fun and arrogance.quot; In the quote above, Abraham is the stereotypical white American male of the time. He is athletic, good looking, and has an appearance of greatness. In my mind he is the type of man that is the most popular jock in high school who every guy wants to be. He is the clichà © American poster boy. b. pg 720 quot;Old Baltus Van Tassel was a perfect picture of a thriving, contented, liberal-hearted farmer. He seldom, it is true, sent either his eyes or his thoughts beyond the boundaries of his own farm; but within those everything was snug, happy, and well conditioned. He was satisfied with his wealth, but not proud of it; and piqued himself upon the hearty abundance, rather than the style in which he lived.quot; Mr. Van Tassel is the image of American prosperity. He is the self-made man and is living the American dream of happiness and fortune through his farm. He is the old, wise man of the village. Although he is wealthy, he is humble of his earnings. 4.)Humor: a. pg 717 - quot;He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with

The Gathering by Anne Enright - Analytical Essay

â€Å"The Gathering† by Anne Enright - Analytical Essay This book â€Å"The Gathering†, sheds some light on the dark side of human behaviour. It shows that every single event that occurs in the past, effects your present actions and attitudes, and that laughter and happiness are some of the greatest weapons against the dark. The Kraken attempts to make each member of the Chain vulnerable, by breaching their weaknesses and talking about their worst memories, so that they get distracted from the true battle. â€Å"The past has the power to influence present actions and attitudes but it must be left behind for progress to be achieved.† This idea is used on many occasions during the book, such as how Nathanial’s behaviour is influenced during his†¦show more content†¦He had been so busy fighting, that he didn’t see his little sister Jenny, climb to the top of the slide. The next thing Indian heard, was a loud thump, and the monotonous sound of someone screaming. Jenny had sustained brain damage from the impact of her fall. Indian is big and very strong, but because of what he had brought upon Jenny, he feels that he has no right to defend himself, and refuses to fight or retaliate when attacked or provoked: â€Å"I don’t fight back because I deserve to be hurt. Because of Jenny. That’s my punishment.† Lallie’s message to Indian was, â€Å"A wound†¦which is hidden will in darkness fester.† By this, Lallie was telling Indi an to reveal the true story about the day in the park to his mum, and that he shouldn’t cover it up any more. Nissa, the independent girl with no compassion, is revealed to have had her heart broken when she was a young girl. One of her mother’s many boyfriends claimed to be in love with Nissa, and sexually abused her. As a result she never let anybody become even the slightest bit attached to her, and from then on, she didn’t show any emotion: â€Å"I made a vow to myself then, that I’d never love anyone again.† Lallie’s message to Nissa was, â€Å"Strength without compassion is soulless and cruel. Weakness†¦ brings understanding.† A car that Danny was in, was driven through a fence and bogged in a field. The driver, whom Danny did not know, ran away leaving Danny to face the police alone.

Examining Race-Related Aspects of James Cameron’s Avatar Free Essays

string(36) " and segregation replacing slavery\." Examining The Race-Related Aspects Of Avatar While evident that many who saw the film Avatar were more than satisfied with it visually, I found it interesting that I heard little about the plot or characters. After all, as a writer, these elements, to me, are what make or break the outcome. After going to see the critically acclaimed film, I was left with a blatant feeling of injustice regarding the film’s race issues. We will write a custom essay sample on Examining Race-Related Aspects of James Cameron’s Avatar or any similar topic only for you Order Now The problem I had with the film is the concept of a white male entering into a world of ethnic people (in this case, aliens), with the sole intent of using them for his own personal gain. Not only has this all too familiar story been used again and again, but also, the outcome is always the same. While I do not believe that the film endorses racism, I do believe that certain racial ideologies play a major role in the film. Whilst some may argue against that point, by simply breaking down the story, it is simple to make the connections. Regardless of if it was intentional or not, there are some obvious racial undertones in Avatar, and they should not be ignored no matter how impressive the graphics are. In the specific clip I have chosen to analyze, Jake, the human who joins the Na’vi to fight against his own kind, has returned to Pandora after being labeled a traitor and losing the trust of the Na’vi. To gain it back, he immediately tames a Toruk, a red dragon who the natives are very fearful of. The dragon had never been tamed by anyone from the Na’vi clan. The ability and heroism just spewing from Jake makes it seem as though he is the only one with the answers that the Na’vi need to save Pandora. The scene transitions to the clan praying to the Hometree, despite their knowledge of the tree having never â€Å"taken sides†. In the midst of all of this, Jake comes flying down on the red dragon, the sun beaming behind him, illuminating his path. Then comes the very demeaning imagery of Jake dismounting the dragon in front of the Na’vi, while they practically bow to and worship him as if to say, â€Å"You are superior to us, after all! † Jake certainly assumes as much, because he soon starts yelling about how this is â€Å"our† land, and they need to do what he says to save it. While watching the film, I first began drawing a lot of parallels to class discussions of how Columbus and the Spaniards conquered America. In Avatar, human corporation is mining a valuable mineral on Pandora, an Earth-like moon that is inhabited by the Na’vi, an â€Å"alien† race. In the late 1400’s, despite also having discovered an entire race of people, the Spanish found gold in America and began mining. Once it became difficult for them, they enforced slavery upon the natives of the land, and mercilessly killed them upon resistance. In the article Sex And Conquest: Domination And Desire On Ethnosexual Frontiers, Joane Nagel reminds us of the â€Å"relative powerlessness of many native women, and reports that sexual exchanges were often coerced, involving rape, forced prostitution, and slavery. In Avatar, the human scientists uncover that underneath Hometree, the Na’vi clan’s dwelling, lies the richest deposits of the mineral that they value, and by the end of the film, are ready to destroy it and its’ inhabitants. This, to me, is an example of racism in how the humans were willing to treat the Na’vi (kill them) in order to acquire more â€Å"gold†. While elements are different, Columbus’ conquest of America strays not so far from the plot that drives Avatar: a â€Å"civilized† race relentlessly compromises what they deem to be an â⠂¬Å"uncivilized† race. It can even relate to how American factories are built in foreign countries to avoid specific labor laws. As Americans, how can we justify that the people working in foreign countries assembling our iPhones are equal to us? If so, wouldn’t we demand that they deserve equal pay? The ideology of the self-righteous, superior race and their ultimate disregard for all others is, sadly, an overused theme present in this film and our audiences should be seeing less of it. Despite all â€Å"humans† being expelled from Pandora in the end, a white male, in this case, Jake, Avatar’s protagonist, gets to be the boss in the end. In exchange, he gives up his body, his culture, and every â€Å"human† aspect about him. The one thing he fails to let go of is his superiority. With the film ending like this, and not allowing one of the original Na’vi to ultimately prevail, a subconscious message is being delivered. Just like in Dances With Wolves, a white male goes native and soon ends up as the great leader. In just three months of immersion in their culture, Jake learns enough about the Na’vi (their folkways, their animal-taming skills, and even the secret to their ultimate test of warrior prowess, something no other Na’vi has mastered in five generations) to become their leader in their struggle against genocide by his own former allies. Hometree even answers a prayer of Jake’s, and she had never answered prayers of the natives, her own people, even once before then. An interesting contrast is set up to disguise the fact that Jake’s character is representative of racism. On one side, there are the power-hungry, militaristic humans who show no moral restraint against the Na’vi. Their opposition is Jake and the rest of the humans who want peace with the natives. While the first group is presented as obviously racist, most would draw the conclusion that the second group, the protagonists, must not be. While the characters themselves are not racist, the age-old â€Å"white Messiah† fable is. This story has played out in American race politics several times. Progressive, liberal white males were responsible for Indian â€Å"removal† and â€Å"schooling† replacing Indian genocide, and segregation replacing slavery. You read "Examining Race-Related Aspects of James Cameron’s Avatar" in category "Papers" Each time, it seems that supporters of progressive policies just have to say, â€Å"Look, I’m progressive. I’m not like those old-fashioned racists,† and then they simply cannot be deemed as racist. This is the trend in our society that the outcome of Avatar is glorifying. Forms of racial supremacy have been changed over time, but have never been ended altogether. To be fair to the â€Å"humans† of Avatar, the Na’vi and their entire planet ended up regarding the humans as a disease with which there can be no peaceful existence. Their solution is, simply, the expulsion of humanity from the planet, or in Jake’s case, culture transfusion. Forced assimilation with the native culture in Avatar is almost too familiar to how their still exists an ideology in America that â€Å"foreign† residents must assimilate to the â€Å"white† culture. Forgotten is that every white citizen of America is descendant of some foreign culture. America should be a melting pot for all cultures, and if James Cameron, the director, producer and writer of Avatar, had truly agreed, perhaps the outcome of the film would be different. So did James Cameron write and direct this because he is a racist white male? No. But does James Cameron even acknowledge that his film carries racist undertones? No. The casting for the film had his seal of approval, so why were actors of color used to portray the Na’vi people? The Na’vi may be tall, blue aliens, but they seem to resemble the noble savages in older Hollywood movies: they’re played by actors of color, they live a primitive lifestyle in harmony with nature, they sport tattoos and dreadlocks and exotic jewelry, and they have courage and athleticism but not necessarily rationality or ambition. Most importantly, why does white Australian Sam Worthington star as the cultural infiltrator? Cameron has more than once stated that Avatar is meant to encourage people to respect each other’s cultures and differences, and while that may be the overt meaning, he fails to touch on the issue of racial superiority. Again, Cameron did not sit down and consciously make a decision to write a racist film. However, he did indirectly use the film to express his white liberal understanding of anti-racism. Really, his views are just a kindler, gentler, more patronizing racism. If not, perhaps the Na’vi would have saved Jake instead of being incapable of saving themselves. Avatar doesn’t ask the moral question of â€Å"Should the natives be conquered? † It asks, â€Å"How should the natives be conquered? † Had the film been written and directed by a person of color instead, there may have been an opportunity to avoid this. Columbia College professor Kristin Pichaske’s excerpt, Historical And Political Framework: Race, Colonialism And African Cinema discusses how most filmmakers are Western white males who control the portrayal of Africans, or minorities, in cinema. In addition to holding the purse strings, Western interests controlled the production infrastructure. As recently as 1993, Diawara would write that Africa lacks film-processing laboratories, sound-dubbing and synchronizing studios, and editing facilities, a fact which significantly limits an African director’s ability to complete a film on his own terms, in his own country and within a reasonable span of time (1993: vii). While this is not universally true at this point (the facilities he describes now being available in South Africa and also rendered somewhat obsolete by the development of high-definition video), it is certainly true that most of Africa suffers from a dearth of film infrastructure and that this creates yet another form of dependence on the West. Having to rely on the West for the skills that they cannot afford, the absence of African directors involved in the depiction of their culture is blatantly apparent. Perhaps James Cameron was not the right person to direct Avatar, as he cannot truly understand the racial ideology that his film is perpetuating. However, if an African director were given the opportunity, a white Western moneylender who demands that he cater the story to white audiences will undoubtedly be funding him. Present day racist ideologies are best understood when comparing them to Magic Eye images: bizarre images concealing a seemingly hidden, 3-D picture. While some people see the 3-D image right away, others have to look for a while before they can find it. Some people never do find it. However, once you know that the 3-D image is there, you end up wondering how you didn’t see it in the first place. The racism depicted in this film is a lot like a Magic Eye image. It is a fantasy story about race told from a white man’s perspective, for white people. I believe this to be true after simply looking at the history of Cameron’s films: Titanic, Aliens, and The Terminator all contained predominantly white casts. Had he intended his films to be seen by a racially diverse audience, I’m sure he would have had enough common sense to diversify his cast of characters. Avatar is also at the end of a very long history of similar films. Avatar’s storyline has been compared to that of Dances With Wolves and Pocahontas. In all three films, white male characters realize they are unhappy with the treatment of the â€Å"others,† but go beyond assimilating and skip to leading the people who they so recently oppressed. Since there have been so many films spanning all genres telling the same story, when will the white directors begin to use the issue of race in a different light? African-American scholar Donald Bogle, who literally wrote the book on how black people have been portrayed throughout Hollywood history (Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies ;amp; Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films) says that while not overtly racist, it is â€Å"a movie that hasn’t yet freed itself of old Hollywood traditions, old formulas. If I were to have written a film like Avatar, I would have made the Na’vi completely capable of saving themselves by reversing the power roles of Jake with the clan. It would mean straying from an age-old format, but also, challenging the racial insecurities of the white audience that the film was intended for. Would the film be as popular if the natives of Pandora did not possess traditional, savage-like qualities? The juxtaposition of the film Avatar with historical events such as Columbus onquering America, and also, overused tales of the white protagonist bringing a race of â€Å"savages† to victory predates most steps towards civil rights equality. Filmmakers of minority races are far and few between, and are often funded by white Westerners when directing. With every film in Hollywood being produced by the â€Å"white man†, will our society ever see things from the point of view of a minority race? If no, then Hollywood’s inability to realize that the decision to continue producing the same point of view is interfering with our society’s ability to think outside of racial boundaries. | | | | | | How to cite Examining Race-Related Aspects of James Cameron’s Avatar, Papers

Information and Communication Technology for Sustainanble Development

Question: You are an employee of a large organisation based in Sydney. By introducing teleworking in the organisation, your supervisor plans to contribute to sustainable development and has asked you to research about teleworking. You are to write a report to be presented at the next executive meeting. The report should include: Teleworking and its challenges to the organisation and the teleworkers. You should consider the social, economic, ethical and legal factors. A critical review whether teleworking would really reduce nett greenhouse gas emissions as widely believed. Answer: Executive summary With the advent of various technologies the companies are switching over to the process of teleworking or telecommuting. This is not only proving to be economically and environmentally beneficial for the organizations but also economically and personally beneficial for the individuals who are opting for these kind of professions. The report includes brief description of the telecommuting process and its benefits to the society. The report further investigates the scope of teleworking within the existing organizational and technological infrastructure of Cisco Ltd which is one of the largest IT Company in Sydney. For the purpose of the proposal of implementing the telecommuting service within Cisco, the report focuses widely on the drawbacks of the system and on the sustainability of the system. The research for the purpose includes the referenced journals and published books. The analysis of the facts and published figures show that although the introduction of teleworking has the capability of reducing costs as well as carbon emissions however the adoption of teleworking will also bring about difficulties like isolation from society, legal workplace problems, emission of electronic energy and also communication and security problems within the companies as well as the individuals availing it. Hence the report shows that Cisco should not avail the telecommuting services for important positions like the code cracking and other IT solutions. The recommendation part shows that by taking he mentioned options like organizing the tele management community, appointing coordinator and providing legal rules and security system will help Cisco to successfully implement the system. However it may be noted that the from the discussion of the report it is clear that sustainability cannot be completely attained by introducing full time teleworking servicers. It can be reduced but not completely erased. Introduction Organizational background Tele commuting or tale workers are a recent introduction in the professional field which gives hundreds of individuals to work from their home without commuting to a centrally located workplace (Cox, 2009). Cisco ltd is a large IT based company located in New South Wales, Sydney and deals with providing IT solutions on software systems, Hardware and other online services to the multinational companies in Australia and other parts of the world. The company employs around 2500 people currently who are working in around 20 local projects in Australia and 13 international projects. The company is presently focusing on expansion strategy in UK and USA with higher focus on the creation of sustainable working conditions. Employing 25% of IT professionals as teleworkers will give the company a good scope. Research problem The major issue that will be discussed in the report is the negative effects or the problems faced by organizations in employing teleworkers. Around 16% of the employees work from home on a regular basis in Australia (D'Costa and Lane, 2010). The issue that will be discussed in the report will show whether increasing the percentage can be beneficial for the sustainable development of the country as well as Cisco Ltd. Objectives of the research The following objectives are to be achieved from the discussion of the report To determine the advantage of tele working in Cisco in respect of enterprise flexibility and cost savings To ascertain the challenges faced by Cisco in employing tele workers and also the challenges faced by the individual tele workers To evaluate the extent of sustainability that can be achieved by Cisco by employing telecommuters Research methodology The report will be prepared with the help of secondary data collected from the various peer reviewed journals and academic books published in this context. For the useful analysis of the data the websites and the company blogs of other companies using telecommuting services will also be viewed. Sustainable development Sustainable development may be defined as the process of developing new opportunities for the present generation without compromising and maintaining the environmental balance of the future. Dutcher (2012) opined that sustainable development is a better way of doing things. By incorporating sustainable activities like environment preservation, incorporation of health plans, planning of new communities, sustainable food chains it is possible to increase the quality of the life of the individuals. Sustainable development ensures that an economic development takes place howe3ver in the process there is no depletion of natural resources. ICT can contribute to sustainability by introducing technologically advanced electronic devices that will help to promote services without any commutation of people and goods (Nishina, 2010).The use of the ICT for introduction of Tele commuting has helped to reduce the use of resources by the individuals. Different sustainability programs are being conducted all over the world which includes WorldFish project, The Economy and Environment program of South East Asia etc which creates opportunities to balance the depletion of the different resources. As per the reports of Australian weather department, the country is experiencing extreme weather conditions which are crippling the financial conditions of the country. The city aims to reduce the carbon emissions by 70% within the year 2020 (Ozcelik, 2010). Hence to make the atmosphere sustainable different large and small organizations are contributing to the process by engaging in activities like tri generation, renewable energy master plan, solar project plan, and energy efficiency programs and installing energy efficient street park lights. Teleworking and its benefits According to Renick (2010), teleworking or telecommuting is a form of employment where the individual is given an option to work from home or any convenient place with the help of electronic media. The opportunity of teleworking helps the individuals to reduce the commutation expenses and also helps the organization to reduce costs relating to transportation, electricity etc. The different forms of telework are namely electronic homework, satellite centers, neighborhood centers and mobile work. As per the Forbes report approximately 50% of the employees in Middle East, Latin America and Asia are engaged in frequent telecommuting and nearly 10% of the workers practice telecommuting from home on regular basis. Although very few companies in US employ telecommuters however an exception is seen in case of call centre companies providing IT solutions to the national and international clients in US. Around 40% of the employees in these types of companies are seen to be teleworkers (Allen et al. 2013). The overall process of teleworking is facilitated by ICT tools like virtual private networks, conference calling, Voice over IP, video conferencing and virtual call centre. The trend of teleworking emerged in past 5 years and strengthened due to the introduction of devices like laptops, cloud computing, wifi availability, Smartphone and Personal digital assistants (PDAs). Benefits of teleworking Benefit to individuals: The option of work from home gives the employees an opportunity to maintain work life balance. Lautsch and Kossek (2011) opined that it also helps them to save money by reduction of transport and other allowances. The availing of this working condition also increase the productivity of the individuals as they can avoid physical stress. Benefit to the communities: This option helps to create employment rate by employing large number of telecommuters. In the Middle East around 25% of the retired population is recorded to have recruited as telecommuters. The other benefits to the society are the reduction of the traffic rate and accidents, cost reduction of transportation infrastructures, reduction of greenhouse gases and energy use (Baard and Thomas, 2010). Benefit to the employers: The organizations are also benefited from the employment of the telecommuters which includes reduction of direct costs, expansion of talent pools, reduction of spread of illness and also earning of ax credit due to availability of sustainable development features. Challenges of teleworking to organization and teleworkers Challenges faced by employers and organization Technical difficulties: The major concern that the employers face s the barriers in respect of internet connections, internet speed, network slowdowns and availability of correct ICT options for the employees working as teleworkers in their homes (Richard, 2012). Disparity in organizational culture: Working from home doesnt give the teleworkers an opportunity to adopt the organizational culture of the company. This creates a situation of internal resistance for the teleworkers (Cox, 2009). Moreover there occurs a lack of trust on the part of the employer since the employer anticipates that the productivity of the employee will decrease due to homely distractions. High technological costs: The introduction of telework within the existing system of any organization will be a costly method. In case of Cisco limited the employers will not incur much cost because it is an IT company which already has the facilities of ICT installed within the organization. However Dutcher (2012) opined that problems like installation of laptops, computers, secure network, and cloud computation may involve high costs for the companies. Security issues: The companies may have issues relating to security breaches, dislocation of files, and transfer of data in case of teleworkers. In case of office work the security protocols are maintained by installing firewalls to protect from malware and blocking threatening profiles. However this is not possible in case of home working facilities. Challenges faced by employees working as telecommuters Low interaction: Around 22% of the employees are of the opinion that availing the options of telecommuting crates a prolonged situation of isolation for the individual.Richard (2012) states that the level of effective interaction between the teleworkers and the organizations gets reduced. This negatively affects the mindset of the employee and reduces the productivity. Exclusion from workplace decisions: Survey of Queensland university of Technology shows that the telecommuters find themselves detached from any kind of official information or decision like change in policies or management. Moreover the co workers at office dont feel the importance of involving them in social activities like picnics, annul functions or club meetings. Other issues: The employees also face problem related to stagnant career growth line involving no promotions, lack of assistance in the work form any higher authorities of the company and lack of balance between work and personal distractions at home (Baard and Thomas, 2010). Relation between teleworking and reduction of green house gas emissions According to the IT industry, teleworking has the capability to reduce CO2 emissions by around 265m tones. As per the reports of WHO in 2005 internal use of video conferencing as means of working allowed to save around 54,000 tons of CO2 by reducing the transportation level of the employees. Richard (2012) suggested that the theory of moving electrons consuming less energy compared to moving molecules have induced the organizations as well as the government of different countries to adopt the opportunities of teleworking. However Noonan and Glass (2012) argued that although the carbon emissions may be reduced however the telecommuters use the same technologies as in office and this makes duplicate use of same energy thereby reducing the energy resources. The reports created by the companies showing the large reduction in the CO2 levels have been prepared making vague assumptions there are no accurate figures as prove to the theory. Moreover Baard and Thomas (2010) added that the extensive se of teleworking involves high degree of e-emissions from the use of technological devices which may contribute to negative environmental situations. Conclusions On analyzing the various reports and the studies it can be concluded that use of teleworking as an employment opportunity may be feasible. However the various disadvantages focused in the report shows that a full time tale working for a prolonged period may result into creating a negative situation for both organization as well as the employees. The report shows that the extensive use of telecommuting services will create negative environmental situations like reduction of life cycle of the computers and increase of e- emissions. The computers are responsible for 2% of global CO2 emissions. Hence although the teleworking will reduce the CO2 emission but it will consequently increased by the use of computers. In this report Cisco Ltd is an IT company hence it is already into the business of providing IT solutions to the clients with extensive use of ICT appliances like PDAs and Laptops. If the company further introduces the system of teleworking within the organization then rate of CO2 emission from the computers will increase Moreover the WHS standards are applicable also in case of teleworkers which shows that any kind of occupational health hazard of the telecommuter will be the responsibility of the company. Hence it is not advisable for Cisco ltd to undertake full time teleworkers for important posts. In addition to this the Queensland department of Industrial Relations sets out a number of regulations that should be followed by organizations as well as the individuals to be eligible to work as telecommuters. For Cisco ltd to avail the opportunity the company needs to acknowledge the following facts namely Telecommuting should be a voluntary offer on the part of the employee The service can be availed based on the work suitability Maintenance of equal salary structure in spite of tale commuting services The high legal obligations will make it difficult for Cisco ltd to avail the services. Moreover the ethical issues like the security breach will pose as a bigger problem in maintaining the quality of work by Cisco LTD. The company being an IT company needs to have access to important data loss or duplication of which will hamper the reputation of the company. In recent British council survey of employees in Australia showed that around 30% of the teleworkers are having trouble balancing the productivity of the work along with the personal distractions. This shows that the emotional and the social life of the individuals working as telecommuter are hampered to a great extent. They dont feel associated with the daily working life rather are isolated from any kind of social activities. The discussion of the problem sows that Cisco ltd will also face problem relating to the emotional and organizational attachment with the telecommuters. Since the company has an existing employee base of 2500 hence it would become difficult for the company to manage the office workers along with the commuters in each and every project. Hence an overall discussion of the benefits and the problem that teleworking service is facing it can be concluded that it is not a viable option for Cisco ltd. Although the company may benefit from the reduction of direct costs however the rate of carbon emission cannot be controlled accurately and also the legal and social problems will make it difficult for the organization to function effectively. Recommendations The following recommendations may be useful for the management and implementation of the telecommuting services in Cisco ltd. Use of mobile technology: Since extensive use of computers results in CO 2 emissions hence it is advisable to the supervisors of Cisco to use the mobile or the PDA services for the purpos4e of telecommuting works. Cisco ltd is dealing in outsourcing and BPO services hence after providing necessary training to the teleworkers the company can focus on using their services in the BPO activities. The use of mobile will not result in e-emissions and neither will result in increase of CO2 level. Install security facilities: To prevent any kind of malware or transfer or dislocation of important files the company can install similar firewall security system in the home computers of the teleworkers. This will ensure that the company has an access to the security system of the teleworkers. Selection of the right employees: the system of the telecommuting to be sucessful Cisco ltd needs to ensure that the right employees are selceted for the posts. The company in this respct can arraange for initail office trainning for the newly recruited employes. Moreover the company can alos recuit experinced candidates who have working knowledge of IT as wel as expeisnce in the field of telecommuting. This will ensure the level of productivity within the organisation. Build an effecicint system of teleworking: Cisco ltd needs to build a new system to ensure the smooth workings of the telecommuters. In this respect the ocmpany needs to appoint a telework corordinator and form a seprate group of 10 workers each under one co ordiantor. His wil ensure that the productivity of the employeees can be monitored and laos they will get any kind of technical assitance form the ofiice. Creation of telework policy: Cisco ldt further needs to create a new telework policy in compliance with the workplace regulations so that an effective communication is possible between the teleworkers and the office representatitives. The policy will define the parametres of the progrm including the correct job specifications and personnel requirements. The policy will also define the slary stucture that is feasible to be paid to the teleworkers. The salary stucture will be euqla to that of an office employe and wll include the divisions of rewards and incentives along with the times of performance apprials. This will create a level of ocnfidence among the employees to availa the teleworking services. In reagrd to the job suitability of the employees the management at Cisco should be careful t chose employees for work like writing of reports, case analysis, data analysis, writing of regualtions and decsions. These jobs donot require any kiind of physical precense on the par t of the employee hence the employee is able to fufill the task accordingly. Manaintan organisational enviornment: Although the teleworkers are not present physically in the company premisese however the mangement at Cisco should concentarte on manageing the organisational atmosphere with the employees. For this the managent will have to maintain a sense of control and supervision on the dialy work target, incarse the level of trust, make elcetronic based collaboration and redesign the working procedures. Reference list Books Cox, W. (2009).Improving quality of life through telecommuting. Winnipeg, Man.: Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Journals Allen, T. D., Johnson, R. C., Kiburz, K., Shockley, K. .M. (2013). A finer-grained meta-analytic assessment of the relationship between work-family conflict and flexible work arrangements, Personnel Psychology, 66(2), pp-345-376. Baard, N. and Thomas, A. (2010). Teleworking in South Africa: Employee benefits and challenges.,SA j. hum. resour. manag., 8(1). D'Costa, A. and Lane, M. (2010) The adoption of single sign-on and multifactor authentication in organisations -- A critical evaluation using TOE framework, Issues in Informing Science Information Technology, 7, pp. 161-189. Dutcher, E. (2012) The Effects of Telecommuting on Productivity: An Experimental Examination.The Role of Dull and Creative Tasks, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 84, pp- 355-363 Lautsch, B. A and Kossek, E. E. (2011). Managing a blended workforce: Telecommuters and non-telecommuters,Organizational Dynamics, 40(1), pp-10-17 Nishina, M. (2010). Applications of Teleworking Based on a Study of Disabled Workers.Industrial Health, 48(3), pp.292-295. Noonan, M., and Glass, J. (2012). The hard truth about telecommuting., Monthly Labor Review, 135(6),pp- 38-45 Ozcelik, Y. (2010). The rise of teleworking in the USA: key issues for managers in the information age.IJBIS, 5(3), p.211. Renick, T. (2010) The Advantages of Being Voiceless.Teaching Theology Religion, 13(3), pp.248-250. Richard. L. (2012) Telecommuting: Implementation for Success, International Journal of Business and Social Science , 3(15), pp-20-29

The Built Environment And Tourism Tourism Essay Essay Example

The Built Environment And Tourism Tourism Essay Essay Tourism has been one of the economic success narratives of the last 40 old ages. It has grown into a major constituent of the universe economic system and one of the most extremely developed and dynamic industries with an of import part to incomes and employment. Tourism has been quickly turning sector and a wide-sweeping socioeconomic phenomenon with wide economic, societal, cultural and environmental effects. It is likely that touristry will go on to rule the international scene for many old ages to come. ( Sharma, 2011 ) The environment is possibly one of the most important subscribers to the popularity and attraction of a finish. Sceneries, pleasant climes and alone landscape characteristics have an imperative influence in touristry development and the spacial distribution of tourer motions. Apart from environment, the other of import tourer puller is civilization in all its diverseness across continents. Cultural touristry has long existed, but recent demographic, societal, and cultural alterations in the chief beginning states have led to an increasing figure of new niche markets in finish states, including culture-oriented vacations. We will write a custom essay sample on The Built Environment And Tourism Tourism Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Built Environment And Tourism Tourism Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Built Environment And Tourism Tourism Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer However, like other signifiers of development, touristry has besides contributed to its portion of jobs, such as societal break, loss of cultural heritage, economic dependance and environmental debasement. ( UNEP, WTO, 2005 ) . Learning about the brunt of touristry has led many tourers to seek more painstaking vacations. These incorporate assorted signifiers of sustainable touristry such as: nature-based touristry , ecotourism and cultural touristry . The major jobs arise because the environment ( at least in the short term ) is a nothing priced public good and as with any zero-priced good, is capable to extra demand and over-utilization. This over-utilization of the natural resources and development of cultural heritage particularly during the peak periods of tourer activity every bit good as frequently sick planned touristry development, have provided a figure of illustrations where touristry is in struggle with the environment ( Coccossis, Parpairis, 1995 ) . Not merely that, a s a consequence of environmental consciousness, a great figure of alternate signifiers of touristry been developed in the last decennary. Sustainable Tourism promotes limited-scale, low-impact, community-based activities. It may be defined as touristry that gives emphasis to the contact and apprehension between the hosts and the tourer, every bit good as the milieus ( Smith A ; Eadington, 1992 ) or as touristry consistent with the natural, societal and community values and that allows a constructive relationship among locals and tourers . ( Wearing A ; Neil, 1999 ) . Sustainable environment requires sustainable design. Architecture and design can continue the memorable and old memorials while it can besides make new and attractive qualities in which people can utilize and bask. Architecture has the endowment of specifying infinites and therefore has a powerful influence on the human behavior and apprehension and this is precisely what is ever taken into history in sustainability, maximising economic benefit and continuing the ecosystem. But what should be the attack to this design to accomplish all ends of sustainable touristry or instead what are the tools and rules of architecture that need to be adopted to encompass sustainable touristry demand to be developed. Thus the inquiry to be answered is: What should be the architectural attack for sustainable touristry? Specifying Sustainable Tourism Sustainable touristry is frequently considered to be a particular sort of touristry that entreaties to a peculiar market niche that is sensitive to environmental and societal impacts. This is a narrow position as sustainable touristry is much more than a discreet or particular signifier of touristry. The term sustainable touristry refers to a primary aim to do all touristry more sustainable. It is a continual procedure of betterment, one which applies every bit to touristry in metropoliss, resorts, rural and coastal countries, hills and protected countries. It should be thought of as a division of touristry, non a type of touristry. Sustainable touristry is based on the three pillars of sustainability ( economic, societal and environmental ) and is merely defined by the World Tourism Organization as: Tourism that takes full history of its current and future economic, societal, and environmental impacts, turn toing the demands of visitants, the industry, the environment and host com munities. ( WTO, 2005 ) , Sustainability is a procedure and non an terminal province. The built environment and Tourism Tourism has an inauspicious consequence on built environment. It could be on architectural facade, alteration of landuse, overburdening of substructure etc. Large scale building of tourer installations and other substructure tends to alter the land usage of an country and besides upset the natural ecological harmoniousness of a finish. Besides touristry brings alterations to the common engineering and sometimes the traditional buildings merely vanish giving manner to modern building which is most of the clip non following and rules of sustainability. Alternatively they create injury to the finish, finally losing the character, being environmentally upseting and non suited to the demands apart from commercial facet. Some of the other impacts of touristry on built environment and architecture of a topographic point are: over-intensive urbanisation, illegal buildings, pollution, negative aesthetic alterations, debasement of quality etc. Need Designation Tourism now accounts for 10 % of the universe s economic activity but at the same clip it has major impacts on the natural and reinforced environments and every bit good as on well being and civilizations of host population. Ecological, societal and economic sustainability are intertwined. Tourism and architecture may be connected to the benefit of the two and finally to the benefit of the people. There has been merely a really small research on the function of architecture and the attack that should be followed when aiming sustainable touristry. Since edifice activities like building of hotels, invitee houses, tourer Centres, commercial centres etc rule the development of touristry at any topographic point, there is a demand to develop an attack and policy on architectural developments as portion of sustainable touristry. This job is of cardinal importance as it has led to the absence of an equal theoretical foundation for understanding the kineticss of alternate touristry and the societal activities it involves and reacting to it consequently. Sustainable design and planning do non endanger the economical benefits that a healthy touristry industry can convey ; on the contrary, they can heighten local distinctive features and do usage of traditional cognition and expertness. Where sustainable methods and stuffs are employed, edifices can be both ecologically and economically profitable, thanks to their lower building and life rhythm costs. This thesis will be a little attempt in the same way. Scope Sustainability does non necessitate a lessened quality of life, but it does necessitate a alteration in mentality and values toward a less consumptive life style. These alterations must encompass overall mutuality, ecological stewardship, societal duty and economic feasibleness. Assorted authorities organic structures, international organisations and conventions have stated the importance of touristry and its sustainability. Many states every bit good wish to or hold already initiated the chase to policies of sustainable touristry . In fact one of the most of import issues in sustainable development of touristry resources is the consideration and enlargement of design and building criterions in order to make an optimal usage of energy, H2O and land resources. The range of the survey will be to understand sustainable touristry and its signifiers maintaining in head the delicate finishs specially, be it in footings of their ecosystem, cultural heritage or economic stableness and province rules that should regulate the architectural design and planning of the touristry substructure maintaining in head sustainability as defined above. To put down the architectural moralss in planning and designing of tourer demands like hotels, invitee houses, activity Centres etc suited to the ecosystem, society and economic system. The survey will concentrate on the delicate finishs since there is more need at that place but the applications will be in general universal. The range of research is in guidelines published by international organic structures maintaining in head Indian finishs. Restrictions The instance surveies where sustainable touristry developments have been implemented will non be accessible physically and the research will hold to depend on secondary beginnings of informations. The primary instance survey will be covering a finish which is delicate ecologically, culturally and economically. It might non be possible to do multiple visits and at the same clip while making the study the deficiency of academic cognition sing the topic amongst hosts could take it adrift. None of the tourer finishs in India has adopted sustainable touristry as a whole. Few resorts, vicinities etc have adopted sustainability within them. Sustainable touristry is a comparatively new term ; the research on it will be limited to informations over the past 3o old ages merely. Since the range has to be limited the research will concentrate peculiarly on function of architecture in sustainable touristry and non other agencies of accomplishing it. When explicating the study questionnaire, the deficiency of cognition about sustainable touristry might take to indirect framing of inquiries. Besides people will hold to be relied upon for being honest which might non be the instance for all. 1.7 Mentions and Bibliography Mentions Khaksar, A. , Tahmouri, A. , Hoseinrazavi, S. , 2001, The Reciprocal Effects Of Architecture And Tourism: The Sustainability Approach, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran Sharma, K. , 2011, Sustainable Tourism Development Through Sustainable Architecture: A Projected Case Study of Cox s Bazaar, Bangladesh. Master s thesis, University of Huddersfield UNEP and WTO, 2005, Making Tourism More sustainable: A usher for policy shapers

Swedish Patronymics and Surnames Explained

Swedish Patronymics and Surnames Explained Until the turn of the  20th century, family surnames were not in common use in Sweden. Instead, most Swedes followed a  patronymic naming system, practiced by about  90–95% of the population.  Patronymics (from the Greek  pater, meaning  father, and  onoma, for name)  is the process of designating a surname based upon the given name of the father, thus consistently changing the family surname from one generation to the next. Using Gender Distinction In Sweden,  -son or -dotter was usually  added to the fathers given name for gender distinction. For example,  Johan Andersson would be the son of Anders (Anders’ son) and  Anna Svensdotter the daughter of Sven (Svens’ dotter). Swedish sons names are traditionally spelled with a double s- the first s is the possessive s (Nils as in Nils son) while the second is the s in son. Technically, names that already ended in s such as Nils or Anders should have three ss under this system, but that practice wasnt often followed. It is not uncommon to find Swedish emigrants dropping the extra s for practical reasons, to better assimilate into their new country. Swedish patronymic son names always end in  son, and never sen. In Denmark the regular patronymic is sen. In Norway, both are used, although sen is more common. Icelandic names traditionally end in son or dotir. Adopting Nature Names During the latter-half of the 19th century, some families in Sweden began to take on an additional surname to help distinguish them from others of the same name.  The use of an extra family surname  was more common  for people who moved from the countryside into the city where long-term use of patronymics would have  resulted in dozens of individuals with the same name.  These names were often a composition of words taken from nature, sometimes called nature names.  Generally, the names were made up of two natural features, which may or may not have made sense together (e.g. Lindberg from lind for linden and berg for mountain), although sometimes a single word would make up the entire family name (e.g. Falk for falcon). Sweden passed the Names Adoption Act in December  1901, requiring all citizens to adopt heritable surnames- names that would pass down intact instead of changing every generation. Many families adopted their current surname as their hereditary family surname; a practice  often referred to as a frozen patronymic. In some cases, the family just chose a name they liked- such as a nature name, an occupational surname related to their trade, or a name they were given in the military (e.g. Trygg for confident). At this time most women who were using patronymic surnames ending in -dotter changed their surname to the male version ending in -son. One last note about patronymic surnames. If you are interested in DNA testing for genealogical purposes, a frozen patronymic does not generally go back enough generations to be useful for a Y-DNA surname project. Instead, consider a geographical project such as the Sweden DNA Project.

Are Leaders Born or Made Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Are Leaders Born or Made - Essay Example Discussion In recent times there has been debate over whether leaders are born or these skills can be acquired. Social scientist have attempted to identify the traits, behavior, sources of power or aspects of a situation that makes a leader standout and influence followers to accomplish group objectives. Effectiveness of a leader depends a lot on his following i.e. how the followers follow. What is leadership? Humankind has been pondering over this issue for about three thousand years and after over hundred years of academic research we have not yet reached the consensus. Many books have been written over this topic. By the end of 2009 the no of books written on leadership were 53,121. In a short span of time we will literally have more books on this topic than the people to read them. It tells not only the importance, relevance of this topic but also the complexity associated with it. There is no consensus on the definition of leadership as well simply because it is not required. Ho wever there seems to exist four areas of dispute around which theory of leadership revolves namely person, process, positional and result. Personal approach associate leadership with the person this approach is usually derived from autobiographies. Others define it as a process, the process through which information which is contradictory and undigested is made sense of. It is basically the style that leaders adopt. Positional approach is based on authority. It is the ability to exert pressure and get things done. Result approach is based on mobilizing a community or group of people to achieve a purpose. Thus leadership can be defined in various ways. It strengthens our argument about its complexity. 1(Keith Grint, 2010) What leadership is all about? Is it only about influencing others? How can we differentiate leadership from other means of authority such as power, dominance, and authority? Leaders inspire their followers and make them do things which otherwise they would not do be cause followers have trust and faith in their leaders. There are certain myths about leadership which needs clarification. An identification of essential elements and skills provide the basic framework required for success. A simple and unique not basic, explanation of leadership procedure Insight into the rationale of leading. Sound understanding of the organizational context in which one intends to lead Appreciation and ability to grasp opportunities and unique challenges innate in every situation. Clarity and transparency about ones leadership role, what one possesses priori to exercising leadership Savvy and successful leaders build their own agenda based on their skills and capabilities, reflecting self learning and knowledge and a healthy respect for challenges, opportunities and risks. 2(Joan V. Gallos, 2008) Leadership cannot be confined to political or social life only. It is as much needed in our business world as in any other walk of life. It is a widely accepted fact tha t leaders play a pivotal role in organization’s success. It is a critical factor in enabling organizations to adapt to its environment readily, surviving and thriving by successfully implementing organizational strategy. Based on vast research three themes about human behavior have been

THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP AND HIGH PERFORMANCE (HRM) SYSTEMS ON Thesis

THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP AND HIGH PERFORMANCE (HRM) SYSTEMS ON PATIENT SAFETY MEDIATING BY ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE IN SAUDI HOSPITALS - Thesis Example lted in hospitals beginning to provide integrated health care services which was qualitatively made even better through technological adaptations (Lighter and Fair, 2004, p.7). As the hospitals grew in size, capital and functions, a considerable work force began to get aligned with it resulting in a scope and need for applying management and human resource concepts and frameworks into them (Hernandez, 2009, p.4). This was also a result of health service as a sector being highly â€Å"labor intensive† (Hernandez, 2009, p.4). It is this evolving work environment in health care sector that is transforming all its outcomes including patient safety (Ngo, Foley and Loi, 2009, p.668). This evolving work environment is what constitutes organizational climate of a health service organization and it is â€Å"the frame of reference through which individuals (workers) make sense of organizational life† in a health care facility (Ngo, Foley and Loi, 2009, p.668). Hence, organizational climate can be viewed as one of the most important mediating element in patient safety (Walston, Al-Omar and Al-Mutari, 2008, p.35). This mediation happens through human resource management. Though there can be many aspects to human resource management that can lead to patient safety, this study envisages focusing on two specific elements of it, namely, leadership and high performance work systems (HPWS). The research done so far in this area have mostly generated data on how leadership and HPWS help build an organizational climate suitable for patient safety (Richardson and Storr, 2010; Stewart and Usher, 2010; Combs et al., 2007). Yet, these studies have also pointed to the lack of sufficient investigation being made into the whole process that starts with leadership and work force, evolves through organizational climate and arrives at desirable level of patient safety. This literature review envisages weighing the opposing arguments on the role of high performance work systems and leadership in

Response Paper (The American Revoltion in Indian Country Essay

Response Paper (The American Revoltion in Indian Country - Essay Example demonstrates how Native American were able to pursue different strategies as they went through difficult experiences but were able to uphold their legacy Colin Calloway writes that, "The Revolution marked an emphatic divergence between the Cherokees and their colonial neighbors as the warriors of both societies "took control of the path. This illustrate the lateness that was at hand because the Cherokee involvement in the revolutions was not a simple sign but it proved a powerful, durable and the same time usable image. The clamor kept on growing especially in the 19th century on how to remove the Cherokees from their only remaining lands, although there were the strong peace efforts emanating from the village headsmen way back before the war, during the war, combined role that was played by the Chota as well as the new societies which were built from the outcome ruins of the war were not listened to but ignored. All this was in the favor of what was termed as memory of Cherokee antagonism in the revolution. Therefore, the Cherokee had the responsibility again to begin afresh the practice of rebuilding their lives and homes past Miss issippi. When the fighting came to an end due to the revolution it was very difficult for the Cherokees because they were like orphans, they were without a place completely in the universe. Because of the repercussion of the war, their population was affected drastically which led to serious drop of about 10,000 in number only and at the same time lost their homelands which was estimated to be around three-quarters as well as hunting grounds and towns were destroyed. The revolutions grouped lower towns to be Chickamauga while those who remained neutral kept on dividing the Cherokee. Their cultural framework was affected so much which disrupted the harmony which existed amongst the Cherokee wellbeing in relation to their spiritual world. This caused a lot of disorder everywhere. Thousands of Cherokees were forced under prevailing

Literature Review on Mergers And Acquisitions

Literature Review on Mergers And Acquisitions 1. Introduction: Mergers and Acquisitions refer to buying; selling and combining of different companies that can help a growing company in a given industry grow rapidly without having to create another business entity (Virani, 2007). Traditionally, exploiting economies of scope and scale or taking advantage of market imperfections has been a dominant way of gaining competitive advantage by firms. However, as economies are becoming more and more integrated due to the forces of globalisation, there is an increasing realisation that these ways of competition offer limited profitability for firms. As a result, mergers and acquisitions have become increasingly popular as companies look for higher returns and dominant market position in the global market. Mergers and acquisitions provide means to acquire expertise, technology and products. Over the past two decades, mergers and acquisitions have become a global phenomenon and a popular strategic choice for company growth and expansion (Hansen and Nohria, 2 004). Despite the increasing popularity of mergers and acquisitions, unfortunately, the performance of merger and acquisitions has not been satisfactory. Research studies reported that more than two-thirds of large merger and acquisition deals fail to create value for shareholders. Mergers and acquisitions fail to meet the anticipated goals, as mentioned by Carleton (1997), who noted that the rate of mergers and acquisitions failure range from 55 to 70 percent. These failed mergers constitute a waste of human and financial resources. Given the popularity of this strategic alternative, there is a strong need to learn how to manage mergers better and to make them more successful (Gopinath, 2003). Numbers of studies are quick to point out numerous reasons behind this poor performance of mergers and acquisitions and specifically assert that lack of strategic fit and poor management of the integrative process appear to be the main causes of unsatisfactory performance. Infect, an exhaustive list containing possible causes of poor performance, can be made with reference to the numerous research studies conducted over the last two decades (Epstein, 2004). These research studies have examined the bad performance of the mergers and acquisitions from various aspects. The very observable aspects like finance, stock market and legal issues were given importance and were considered the most sensitive areas for mergers. However, with the growing rates of failure, researchers and business analysts started acknowledging the fact that this poor performance of mergers and acquisitions does not simply has its roots in financial and operational issues or other legal conflicts. The research was then diverted to examine human and cultural aspects of MAs and it was noted that the real problem is not financial but the lack of intercultural synergy between the organizations. The organizational cultural issues create communication breakdowns and therefore act as a barrier for successful integration of the two organizations. On the other hand, Cartwright Cooper (1993) reinforced the previous findings by stating that the financial and other strategic ben efits expected from mergers and acquisitions are undermined by the cultural conflicts. Moreover, the organization who addressed cultural issues properly during merger and acquisitions experienced good results as compare to other organization who neglected this aspect (Epstein, 2004). Hence there exists a strong need to consider the cultural issues as critical during the mergers and acquisitions and address them properly. The focus of this research is to explore and analyse the organizational cultural issues as the major potential threat for the success of mergers and acquisitions. In other words, to highlight the cultural issues as the most import among all other possible causes that affect the performance of mergers and acquisitions. The discussion will cover the effects of cultural issues on the performance of mergers and acquisitions. 2. Literature Review: Growth is an essential aspect of organizational success. It is something for which most of the companies strive for. It is observed commonly that small companies want to grow big and big firms want to grow bigger. Indeed companies have to grow and the reasons behind are almost same for every organization. However, different companies adopt different strategies for this purpose and the most suitable strategy is the one that supports the company to move progressively towards accomplishing its stated goals (Greiner, 1991).The ultimate objective of most companies is profit, therefore whatever strategy is adopted, profit remains at the heart. Although, growth is considered to be one of the key points of reference of success by business analysts and is mandated by investors. However, researchers have also argued that, although, growth is essential for firms, but every growth strategy is not successful in terms of value creation. Not all the growth strategies are values adding, that could result in an improved performance of a firm (Olsen Chathoth, 2007; Slevin Covin 1997). Olsen Chathoth (2007) further argued that it is the firms performance on a long term basis that determines the sustainability of the growth strategy that was implemented in the first place. Companies choose growth strategies that suits best to them in a frame work of market and competitors. The best route to growth varies depending on the market and the nature of business (Churchill Lewis, 1983). 2.1 Organisational Culture: The concept of culture is frequently being used by the experts in organizational behaviour field to describe how members of groups understand their world and their place in it. Organizational culture can be better understood as the pattern of actions, words, beliefs and behaviours that members of a business organization share (Able, 2007). Soroghan et al (1998) discussed culture as a unique set of values, attitudes and beliefs that creates a shared sense of reality and it has a powerful influence on company and employee behaviour. Handy C (1993) has put forwarded a simplified definition of organizational cultural which suits best to the way this work is oriented. The author has provided a number of aspects that shape the culture of an organization. According to Handy (1993), organizations have deepest set of beliefs about the way work should be organized, the authority should be exercised, people rewarded and people controlled. Similarly, other things like the degree of formalization required, how much planning and how far ahead? Degree of obedience expected from subordinates, do work hours matter or dress or personal eccentricities? Although, these definitions have provided a theoretical frame work to understand the organizational culture itself but the varied definitions have made it somehow difficult to understand the effects of culture on the organizational Performance (Weber Schweiger, 1992). 2.2 Impact of Culture on Organizational Performance: A highly productive business always has a high performing organizational culture that aligns well both internally and externally to support the overall objectives of the business. This organizational culture shapes the employee experience, which in turn impacts customer experience, business partner relationships and, ultimately shareholder value (Able, 2007 p11). Schraeder Self (2003), aptly put forward that the corporate culture can have a significant impact on a firms long term economic performance and will probably be an even more important factor in determining the success or failure of firms in the next decade (Schraeder Self (2003) Deal and Kennedy (1982) asserts that culture is the single most important factor responsible for success or failure in organizations. Kilman et al. (1985) took it further by reporting that strong culture can have a key impact on the success of the business due to its pervasive influence throughout any organization. In order to check the relationship between culture and performance, Denison (1984) studied a suitable sample of 34 firms representing 25 different industries. To validate the study the author used more refined sampling procedures not only for organizations but for the subjects within the organizations .According to him, two indices organization of work and decision making were found to be significantly correlated with financial performance. In addition, the author also found that the strength of the culture was predictive of short-term performance, when performance was defined with broad indicators like return on assets, return on investment and return on sales etc. 2.3 Impact of Cultural on the Performance of Mergers Acquisitions: Mergers and acquisitions are a popular strategy for growth and expansion. The mergers and acquisition activity is increasing and companies are joining together as never before. Also that this expansion process is hampered by certain obstacles and companies suffer from not handling those issues effectively. Among those difficulties, the lack of intercultural synergy between the two organizations has been reported as the most important issue which is affecting the MA performance greatly (Cartwright Cooper 1993). It is a new challenge for companies operating across the globe to understand the organizational culture and its effects on the organizational performance (Fralicx Bolster, 1997). Mergers and acquisitions are effected seriously by the cultural issues and several studies have been conducted till date to investigate culture and people issues as a reason of merger and acquisition failure. The results have shown that up to 65% of failed mergers and acquisitions are due to cultural and people issues. Studies explored that the intercultural differences cause communication breakdowns which affect the productivity of the whole organization (Chatterje et al 1992). Other researchers also supported this line of reasoning and suggested that incompatible cultures are the main causes of MAs failure. Considering cultural issue as a reason of poor success rates, Cartwright and cooper (1993) stated that the financial benefits that companies expect from mergers and acquisitions are often unrealized because of incompatible organizational cultures of the merging organizations. Lodorfos Boateng (2006) have presented a comprehensive overview of the role of culture in the merger an d acquisition process. They have provided a summary of previous research on this issue by concluding that the lack of intercultural synergy is at the heart of MA failure. According to them, Cultural fit is just as important as structural fit in the analysis and evaluation of potential partners and that poor cultural fit has contributed to the failure of several mergers and acquisitions that appeared to be suitable strategic partners. Huang Kleiner (2004) have mentioned that companies can not be integrated successfully if there exits a cultural incompatibility between the two partners and that the cultural incompatibility is consistently rated as the greatest barrier to success of mergers. 2.4 Conclusion: It can be concluded from the above made discussion that cultural problems lie at the heart of merger and acquisition failure. The management and leadership spend time and do efforts to make mergers work. Most of the time, they are busy with planning the strategic and financial aspects, that show negligence to the cultural and people issues. Conversely, in the log run, the cultural issues not only create trouble for the management but the financial benefits are also undermined by cultural clashes in the newly born organization (Cartwright Cooper 1993). The previous sections have provided enough evidence to consider cultural issues as one of the basic reasons behind the failure of MAs. Now it becomes rather necessary to point out some of the cultural related problems that MAs face and which are responsible for the value destruction in this business activity. 3. Research Topic: This research will explore the effects of cultural issues on the performance of merger and acquisitions on organizations around the world. 4. Research Objectives: This research work has the following individual objectives: To explore the strategic motives behind the mergers and acquisitions To evaluate the performance of mergers and acquisitions and identify the major factors affecting the performance. To analyse the effects of cultural issues on the performance of mergers and acquisitions. 5. Research Methodology: The main proposed research methodology is secondary research which is based on the critical and comprehensive analysis of the existing published literature related to the specific area of research. Books, published journal articles, published research reports, surveys, organizational records, qualitative research and internet will be used to collect secondary sources data. The secondary research method is very essential for my research work, because a lot of sources are there like books, journals and study articles, websites etc. Some search engines are very popular such as Google, Athens, Yahoo, etc. I think these sources will help me to complete my research work. I will use all the above mentioned secondary research methods for my research work and I am highly interested to use the deductive method because it is more logical and authentic way to prove your research. Moreover I will use both quantitative and qualitative techniques to critically analyze my collected data and to reach the conclusion. But in this research work, I will prefer to use more qualitative method of data collection. Because, according to Lincoln and Guba (1985) a qualitative method captures a more complete picture of individual lived experience instead of a narrow perspective of generalizations. Therefore, the study will be based on experience rich participants, who are able to offer insight a quantitative study would be unable to capture. The qualitative data provide me an opportunity to study the material of the recent or more distant past to gain the more insights information for methodological and theoretical purposes. 5.1 Advantages of secondary research methodology: This kind of research helps in examining large scale trend. It is easy to accessible so researcher can consume most of its time in critically analysing data rather than collecting it. Sometime primary data collection is not necessary for the research, because of the available secondary data is completely suitable to draw a conclusions and answers of the questions and sufficient for solving problem. The collection of secondary data is far cheaper than the collection of primary data. For the same level of research budget secondary research definitely gives relatively more information than the primary research can give. The time consumption is much less in the collection of data and conducting results in comparison with the primary research. The results obtain from secondary source of information may more precise than the result obtain from the primary data collection. It may not happens all the time but if research is about at large scale for example data taken from the surveys obtain by the government census department on large scale, this is likely yield more precise results than custom designed surveys weather these are based on the comparatively small size of sample. 5.2 Problems of Secondary Research: In secondary research the researches have to be careful about authenticity of secondary resources. Because at the same type of data or idea two different types of department or persons have different type of opinion, for example if researcher consult the data about the loss to the economy from the act of terrorism than their must two different type of responses available from the government prospective and non government interpreters. Some time material available for research is too old and out dated, so it may difficult for researcher to interpret results. The source of the data and material may not reliable each time, so it may impact the reliability and authenticity of results of the research. Sometimes secondary research has lack of firmness of perspective. If data and material collected from non authentic sources it is difficult to check its biasness and inaccuracies. The published material and statistics often raise more questions than answers. 5.3 Limitations: There are some limitations the data may have and the problems that could arise if these limitations are ignored. The verification of existing data is difficult. Secondary data can be general and vague and sometimes it may cause difficulties in decision making. It is possible that data could be out dated and the sample used to generate the secondary data maybe small. The data publisher company may not be reputable. While keeping in mind those limitations of secondary data, the data taken for this research is taken from reputable academic websites. 5.4 Conclusion: A use and search of secondary data should be preceding any primary research activity. Secondary data definitely helps to solve and understand the problem and gives valid answers. The process of collecting secondary data for research is far cheaper and quicker in compare with primary data at in some cases it could be more accurate. There is always a need of evaluation about data and its source before using it for research. Where possible it is better to take same data from different sources so the biasness and errors can be double check for the more accurate results. 6. Research Ethics: While carrying out the research, the most important thing to keep in mind and practice is the ethical considerations. And in my research work this is very critical and of prime consideration. I will follow all the ethical considerations and guidelines. As my research work is based on secondary research, so what ever the secondary data I will use to achieve my research objectives, I will follow the all terms and conditions of ethical considerations. Throughout my research I will practice honesty in processing and reporting all the data, this will be my own work and I will not copy the other researcher data or work, I will not be bias in my research while collecting or processing the data. I will try my utmost to avoid the omissions and errors while analysing the data and will keep all the record of the data and their valid sources. I am fully aware that the plagiarism is a serious academic crime, so I will not plagiarise my research. I will quote all the citations and that will be fully referenced. I will not copy other researchers work.

Gender and Power Relations in Browning’s Porphria’s Lover and My Last D

Gender and Power Relations in Browning’s Porphria’s Lover and My Last Duchess Robert Browning provides a critical view of gender and power relations in his dramatic monologues â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† and â€Å"My Last Duchess.† The dramatic monologue, as S.S. Curry has written, "reveals the struggle in the depths of the soul† (11). Browning delves into the minds of characters to show their conceptions of women and ideas of power. He explores the mental processes of the characters, and invites readers to question societal ideas of power and gender. The mental pathologies of the speakers is emphasized, which forces readers to examine the sanity of their own notions of gender dynamics. In the Victorian age, the idea of separate spheres was an integral part of society. Men’s roles involved participation in the marketplace of the industrial society. Women, on the other hand, were expected to remain in the domestic sphere. They were assigned subordinate, and often passive roles, whereas men played direct roles in an industrial society, therefore being active agents. William Greg’s review-essay â€Å"Prostitution† (1851) provides insight into societal conceptions of men and women and their respective roles. Although Greg believes prostitutes are treated unfairly by society, he nonetheless views prostitution as â€Å"the darkest, the knottiest, and the saddest† social problem â€Å"which philosophy has to deal with† (448). A critical reason prostitution is ostracized is because it violates traditional ideas of gender relations. Prostitutes are women who participate in the marketplace. They, therefore, venture outside the realm of their expected sphere, the home. This is dissonant with Greg’s view – which is a reflection of society’s view ... ...nventional gender relationships. They were assumed to be the active agents and women were expected to be passive. Browning draws attention to the madness of the narrators by delving into their minds. In doing so, Browning forces readers to question their own conceptions of gender and power relations, since the men’s views are but an exaggeration of societal ideas concerning gender dynamics. Works Cited Browning, Robert. The Complete Works of Robert Browning, Volume III. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1971. Curry, S.S. Browning and the Dramatic Monologue. Boston: Expression Company, 1908. DeVane, William Clyde. A Browning Handbook. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1955. Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality, Volume I. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. Greg, W.R. "Prostitution." The Westminster Review 53 (July 1850): 448-506.